"Who nearly destroyed my home? Oh, it was me… No, wait, Nyarlathotep's avatars are all independent. He is he, and I am me... can't lump us together." Alaric shook his head, casting aside the jumble of thoughts, and grinned. "When you think about it, I'm pretty awesome."
"Still…" After chuckling for a bit, Alaric's expression grew serious, and he muttered to himself, "I've confirmed I'm an avatar of Nyarlathotep, but it's clear I've broken free from him. That's not the point, though. The real question is: where's my power?"
Alaric skeptically examined himself from head to toe, only to reach a stark conclusion... no power.
As a Mini Nyarlathotep, his soul contained nothing beyond the fragment of another Nyarlathotep avatar he'd consumed. His only unique ability as an avatar seemed to be the Shadow of Time.
"But isn't time and space Yog-Sothoth's domain?" Alaric found the situation hard to judge. Unwilling to give up, he checked again, only to slump in defeat, forced to admit one thing... as a Mini Nyarlathotep, he really only had the Shadow of Time.
"Is this even reasonable?" Alaric thought it wasn't, but there was nothing he could do. He sighed, accepted the truth, and consoled himself, "It's fine. As long as I consume another Nyarlathotep avatar fragment, I'll get what's coming to me."
With that thought, Alaric couldn't help but recall recent events, a shiver running through him. "Even if we share the same source, devouring Nyarlathotep's power is seriously dangerous…"
Just moments ago, he'd nearly been stripped of all human emotions, on the verge of becoming inhuman again.
"If that happened, what's the difference between that and being dead? Losing all human emotions means it wouldn't be Alaric anymore... it'd just be Nyarlathotep. Good thing Yog-Sothoth's formula was reliable enough."
Alaric patted his chest, feeling his heart thump steadily, and a faint smile curled his lips. But then a question nagged at him. "So, what's my deal with Yog-Sothoth?"
Why would Yog-Sothoth help a Nyarlathotep avatar like him kill another Nyarlathotep?
Alaric couldn't recall any memories on this, but his intuition told him that long ago, he and this Outer Deity might have known each other.
"Maybe once I fully consume the Nyarlathotep fragment inside me, I'll get some answers." Alaric muttered to himself, finally finding the energy to sense what abilities the Sequence 6 Avatara potion had granted him.
"Enhanced spirituality goes without saying. The core ability of Avatara, as the name suggests, is creating avatars. There are two methods. The first is devouring and assimilating others, like Amon does, turning them into my avatar. The upside is that the assimilated avatar retains all its original abilities. The downside? It needs a host." Alaric calculated his options.
"And the second method…" Alaric's eyes narrowed, a rare spark of excitement in his voice. "It's to fabricate a character and make others genuinely believe in their existence. Once enough people believe, the avatar can shift from fiction to reality, though it lacks self-awareness."
"The stronger the avatar, the more people needed to make it real, and there's a limit... I can only fabricate up to a Sequence 2 Angel-level existence." Alaric summed it up, incredulous. "This isn't a Sequence 2 Soothsayer's ability, is it?"
Sure, turning a Sequence 2 avatar from fiction to reality might require half the Loen Kingdom to believe in it... a tall order... but this was a Sequence 6 ability!
"I'm only Sequence 6, and it's already this wild. What kind of monster is a Sequence 2 Soothsayer? I'm not going to end up fabricating an entire planet, am I?" Alaric's eyes glinted as he rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment before shifting focus to the Avatara's other abilities.
Beyond the core Avatara ability, the Thousand Masks and Persona Mask had also been enhanced. Before, the Thousand Masks could only tweak appearances, not drastically alter physiques. Now, it could transform someone like Xio, who's five feet tall, into a six-footer.
The Persona Mask's range had also expanded. Previously, it could only customize specific emotions, but now it could instill traits like courage, liveliness, or melancholy.
Both masks could now be used up to ten times simultaneously.
The emotion manipulation ability had gained a new branch called "Emotional Plague." When Alaric manipulated the emotions of over a hundred people, activating this ability would turn those affected into carriers of the "plague." spreading the emotion to anyone they contacted. However, the Emotional Plague only lasted a day before fading, and those infected couldn't be reinfected for a while.
"The Persona Mask and emotion manipulation are two different beasts. The mask is precise and long-lasting, perfect for powerful individuals. Emotion manipulation is better for crowds, ordinary people, but it's temporary."
Alaric mused to himself, barely noting the usual boosts to physical and mental prowess... he didn't care much for those. Rubbing his chin, he added, "The Chaos Pathway's abilities seem geared toward controlling others and sowing disorder. Good thing I'm a fun-loving guy with a bottom line. If some chaotic evil type got this, the world would be done for."
Alaric shook his head and suddenly reached out, pulling a figure into existence beside him. It looked identical to his current appearance, except his was shaped by the Thousand Masks, while this figure was the real deal.
That's right... Alaric had used his Avatara ability to turn "Jack Jones" from fiction into reality.
It wasn't hard. After all, Jack Jones was only a Sequence 8 Clown of the Seer Pathway, and plenty of people knew and believed in his existence.
Alaric blinked, and as his consciousness flowed into it, the "Jack Jones" figure opened its eyes.
"Let's see… yep, it's really a Sequence 8 Clown from the Seer Pathway. None of my main body's abilities work except Shadow of Time. Kinda weak." Alaric manipulated the Jack Jones shell, studying it before concluding.
"Manifesting a Lucifer shell is still a long way off. I'd probably need to pull off some major stunts and make a name for myself first. For now, fabricating Jack is good enough…" Alaric checked his potion digestion progress and raised an eyebrow.
"The Avatara potion's digestion ticked up a bit. Is it because of Jack Jones and Lucifer's existence? The digestion difficulty is still the usual four or five Sequence 6 potions. So, how do I digest Avatara?"
Alaric pondered, and after a moment, an idea struck. "Maybe fabricating a persona and turning it into a real avatar is the way to digest the Avatara potion."
***
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